<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>the way you see me by spritzerr</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28250013">the way you see me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/spritzerr/pseuds/spritzerr'>spritzerr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Breaking Up &amp; Making Up, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Special, Confused Lance (Voltron), M/M, Post-Break Up, a bit of angst, but christmas so it's okay, how to tag jeez, it's a rollercoaster but yeah, yes - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:47:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,684</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28250013</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/spritzerr/pseuds/spritzerr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas Magic is for sure doing its job this time, Keith is nothing more but sure about that.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Hunk &amp; Keith &amp; Lance &amp; Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith/Lance (Voltron), oh and also - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. christmas eve</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hello and welcome to a short christmas special story!!!</p><p>it's officially christmas eve where i'm living so take the first chapter!!</p><p>enjoy!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Keith moved from Long Beach in California to Denver, Colorado just after he graduated from high school, being only eighteen years old. It wasn’t like he hated living here, because it was truly awesome. He could spend hours just messing around with his friends and a boyfriend, all by the ocean, acting like kids they still were. The whole high school was a crazy time in his life, but Keith loved it with his whole heart. Long Beach was a dream place to live, especially when he had this one, special sleepover during his sophomore year. It was October, somewhere in the middle, but the temperature was still relatively high, it was warm to the point that his friends and him could stay on the beach the whole night without getting even a little bit cold. He remembered it as if it happened today, but it was over five years before. This night made its way to his brain and wasn’t willing to get out, no matter how hard Keith tried to block it out. Even if things were fairly different now, this memory was still holding many feelings for him and one part of him loved the fact that he still could remember it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was that night when they all went midnight swimming, which could’ve been stupid, but it’d been Keith’s silent dream since he’d turned seven. When he finally got to make it come true, he was happy like a child, but he didn’t care. He was still a kid back then, he could enjoy all of these small things. Also, the same night, he went on a walk with his friends. He never got to walk around the city when it was this dark outside, his brother wouldn’t let him. But, fortunately, this night was when Takashi came to his senses and realized nothing bad would happen, as long as Keith had company. He felt awesome, he clearly remembered how much he was smiling and the way his cheeks hurt because of that. His hair was still dripping when they were walking down the main street, but none of them cared about it. Their clothes were wet, Pidge even walked without her flip flops, because she was constantly falling down as the water inside her shoes made it impossible to use them. All of them followed her not so soon after Hunk scratched his knee because his Converse got all messed up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But the best thing was only about to happen. It was right when they returned to the beach and Pidge, Hunk and Allura all passed out not even a minute after. Keith stayed up with Lance, listening to him rambling about the stars and how he used to watch them with his older siblings, before they went to college and didn’t have that much time to spend with him. He missed them, Keith knew that, but he could do nothing else than just plaster his whole body to Lance’s side and hug him tightly, saying that it would be only a few months left and they would all be back before midterms. Lance was grateful for having someone like Keith by his side and he knew what he wanted to do then. Keith didn’t, well, he didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>then</span>
  </em>
  <span>, right now he knew and that’s why this memory had become this important to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That night was the night when Lance confessed. There were no fireworks, no rumored butterflies, but Keith liked it just the way it was. Lance did it under the sky full of stars, his special, soft smile on his face as he said these three words. He didn’t know what love was, but it didn’t matter. He knew that he wanted to be with Keith, this Keith he met in middle school, this Keith who was always there for him, whenever he needed someone, this Keith who had the softest laugh and the cutest dimples </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever</span>
  </em>
  <span>, this Keith whom he loved very much. Keith had his first kiss that night, Lance becoming the only person Keith had ever kissed. They both wished this night never ended, but nothing could last forever, Keith was painfully aware of that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Graduation came faster than they all thought it would. Keith and Lance had been together for almost three years and both thought they will stay together forever. There just wasn’t any other option, Keith knew that Lance and him were meant to be.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But the graduation proved him wrong.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He didn’t feel like recalling it anymore, but long story short, they broke up right after getting their diplomas. They simply weren’t meant to be, no matter how much Keith refused to believe it. But the breakup wasn’t bad, they split up almost as friends, because breaking their group didn’t seem like the coolest idea. Still, Keith was hurting, but this thing wasn’t the one he was still paying attention to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just after that, when all his plans of going to the same University with Lance and renting an apartment with Lance didn’t matter anymore, he knew he had to do something. He found a college in Denver, Colorado. It met his wishes and expectations, but at that time anything was better than staying. This college wasn’t anything spectacular, graphic design major, but the school wasn’t the best it could be.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Keith missed his house, Shiro and Adam annoying the shit outta him. But most importantly, he wanted to have his friends close. These were only a bunch of reasons why he was sitting on the plane, hoping for his flight to be over. He was constantly thinking about his midterms coming </span>
  <em>
    <span>very </span>
  </em>
  <span>soon, as well as the permanently returning thought of dropping out. It would be far better that way, because everything Denver was, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>for sure </span>
  </em>
  <span>was exhausting as hell. Studies here were acceptable, at least how they could be for a hurting person. If Keith was fine, he would never go this far away. Still, he was thinking about coming back home more than he would like to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His flight was </span>
  <em>
    <span>awful</span>
  </em>
  <span>, no doubt he had a fear of heights. It was far worse than he’d imagined it to be and he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t come home for the previous Christmas. He also didn’t want to meet Lance again, even though he knew he would most likely go to his hometown in Cuba, but it wasn’t worth the risk. He sometimes fought the urge to message him, but he found that extremely stupid, as they were still friends after all. They talked a lot sometimes, but lately Keith had been too busy to even read Lance’s text and he knew he was messaging him </span>
  <em>
    <span>lots</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Lance was trying his best to keep Keith encouraged and let him know that he’s still important, because he was still missing him as hell.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Lance was probably busy at the time Keith was on the plane, so Pidge was the only person making it better. She was doing it clearly unintentionally, but it helped. She was bombarding her friend with an enormous amount of texts, saying how hyped she was to finally have Matt over. He wasn’t studying far away, only a few hours, but he still was too busy to visit them every weekend, just as he’d want to. Pidge was always waiting impatiently for her brother to return, because she was still living in the world where his studies were in the same city, even though it was never true. But, she could easily find some advantages — for example, she was always so happy when Matt was about to arrive. And it wasn’t like she was super sad when he wasn’t there, because Pidge had late night Skype conversations with him almost every day and they sometimes lasted for the whole night, especially on weekends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Keith kept laughing quietly (which caused him to snort sometimes, because he was a terribly </span>
  <em>
    <span>loud</span>
  </em>
  <span> laugher and trying to keep it under control caused a lot of weird noises) when he could practically sense Pidge’s excitement only from her texts. He didn’t even care anymore if people on the plane were looking at him weirdly. He was allowed to be happy, especially because it was only two days before the first day of Christmas. He also smiled when he received one or two messages from Adam and Shiro, saying they’ll be out for a few more hours, but Keith can still go and make himself at home, because it was still his house after all, even if he wasn’t living in it every day. They also sent a picture from their date, showing their engagement rings, as they did every damn time. Keith once thought his love life was gonna end up just like his brother’s, but now he didn’t care about it anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Or at least he believed he didn’t.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The plane began taking off, almost making Keith choke. He wasn’t flying often, but this time during every flight just always made him go crazy. And no, chewing gum did not help, not even a little, he tried it multiple times. He shut his eyes just when he heard the annoying noise of one of these sickeningly sweet Christmas songs, probably played as a distraction, especially for kids who were far </span>
  <em>
    <span>too </span>
  </em>
  <span>involved in taking off. Keith just wanted to go home, wrap himself with a blanket (yes, his jacket stayed in his suitcase, because </span>
  <em>
    <span>somehow </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought it would be hot in December) and maybe meet up with his friends the next day. Definitely </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>listen to all of the children yelling and crying, and definitely not pay attention to the couple behind him, acting all lovey dovey and whispering quiet “I love you”’s. Keith felt happy for every couple out there, but he just wasn’t ready for it, even if his own breakup happened over two years before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please unbuckle your belts and slowly head to the exit, aisle by aisle. Remember to wish the ones you love happy Christmas!” Came the sweet voice of one of the flight attendants and Keith had now realized than every single fate that was here must’ve been hating him. He knew, deeply in his heart, that coming home for Christmas wouldn’t end well, but he definitely didn’t expect it to start </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>bad. All the things were constantly reminding him about how much he’d fucked up his love life. Of course, he tried not to think about it as much, but it was just slowly getting impossible. He now knew it would be better to focus on getting home safe, try not to freeze and just enjoy his winter break as much as he could.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pidge sent him a few voice messages to which he was listening while taking his baggage back. He didn’t have much, only one, small suitcase (Pidge and Shiro gave it to him, he still couldn’t figure out </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span>) and a bag constantly falling off of his shoulder. Pidge’s voice explaining why she’s so excited to see Matt again did its job blocking all the annoying sounds of the airport. Keith couldn’t stop looking around only to see the families reuniting after college, work or whatever caused their members to separate. It was undoubtedly the cutest thing ever, but Keith tried not to focus on it too much. He noted in mind that he had to thank Pidge for making his whole journey bearable, but he kind of wasn’t so sure about that when he heard someone shouting his name. Of course, they could’ve been calling some other </span>
  <em>
    <span>Keith</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but to be honest, how many people in Long Beach were called Keith? He guessed that it wasn’t many, but still, he tried to focus on voice messages, desperately wanting to believe that there must’ve been some misunderstanding here and this person really wasn’t calling him. It was, actually, impossible, as Hunk was preparing everything in his house, Pidge was jumping around in her room, Shiro and Adam were both out to buy some things (probably), and Lance… well, Lance was most likely babysitting his little nephews or doing anything else connected with his family. But the voice didn’t stop calling him and for real,he was the only person who stood here confusingly, while everyone else was quickly approaching their relatives.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was finally done with Pidge’s messages and he could pay more attention to his surroundings, unbothered by plenty of messages appearing on the screen, but he really did not see any of them. The voice was helping him realize who was there, but it was still slightly muffled as Keith had his earphones in. The guy was standing in the crowd and he looked… weird with his baby blue beanie and tanned skin. He was way taller than most people, but he stood in the first aisle, at the very front, so he still was clearly visible. Keith was frozen in place, trying to memorize the man’s face features, at least what he could see from a few feet away. It was weird as he could practically say what the man looked like without even glancing at him. He was… known, similar to someone, yet so different. Keith knew this guy, he was sure about that, but he refused to believe it. These eyes, </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh God these eyes</span>
  </em>
  <span>, were now completely focused on him and him only, Keith couldn’t help it anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sign “Welcome home, mullet” only proved him right, as much as Keith wanted it to be all pure lies. The guy was most definitely Lance, the same Lance whom Keith had been unintentionally ghosting for the past few months. Lance who had gone through the breakup fairly easily, at least from what Keith had thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Keith, man!” Lance raised his hand, the same one holding the sign, a little more, so now he was sure that Keith could see him without any problems. “Hey, here!” He waved the other hand, finally making Keith approach him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Keith felt his knees go weaker and start shaking. It’s been over a year since he’d last seen Lance and Keith couldn’t lie — he changed </span>
  <em>
    <span>a lot.</span>
  </em>
  <span> His hair was slightly longer at the top, but it was a kind of an usual undercut, looking extremely good combined with Lance’s chocolate curls.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Long time no see, Keith!” Lance placed the sign on the floor, ready to pull Keith into a tight embrace, but it didn’t happen. He stood the same as minutes before, probably trying to understand what was actually happening here. “Aren’t you even gonna hug your friend? Come on, it’s been so long!” Lance’s voice was purely playful, not offended at all, but even if it would be like that, Keith was far too confused and tired to care about it. Thinking about it after was another thing, but it didn’t matter at that time. “Oh, come on! I’ve been standing here for half an hour!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you even doing here?” Keith managed to ask. He couldn’t lie again, he was happy to see Lance, but it was all too weird and unexpected he didn’t know how he should react. “I didn’t— um, think it would go this way.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Keith, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Dios mio! Pidge asked me to be here and we both made the sign— don’t make this face! I messaged you… a lot of times, man, but you didn’t reply. Keith, no shit, don’t tell me that Pidge forgot to tell you that I’ll be waiting here!” Lance was talking the same way he did back in high school and their freshman year in college. Keith missed it, he couldn’t lie, but he still prefered not meeting Lance than all of the things that started happening. Keith wasn’t ready for it and he planned on confronting Pidge about it, because he clearly told her he didn’t want it. “Come, we look weird just standing here, it’s not like we don’t know each other,”  Lance spoke up again, now pulling Keith closer and finally hugging him. He still used the same cologne, smelling like sea and oranges, Keith’s old happiness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They stood in silence, Keith tried not to panic and let the nostalgia kick in, because he knew he couldn’t just simply do </span>
  <em>
    <span>that.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He needed to get that it was all in the past and his present was nothing like it then, even though Keith loved to imagine that all the bad things never happened. He refused to let it invade his brain, but it was fairly easy when he wasn’t seeing Lance. Now, it all simply fucked up, thanks to Pidge and Keith still didn’t know how it was going to turn out. Being greeted by your ex right after your flight ended wasn’t what Keith wanted to experience right before Christmas. He could literally expect anyone, </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone </span>
  </em>
  <span>but </span>
  <em>
    <span>Lance,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he didn’t have any purpose in coming here, but yet he did, alone. He told Keith that it’d been Pidge’s idea, but he could’ve as well just said ‘no’, nobody was forcing him to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Keith knew one thing: he still hadn’t recovered from love and it didn’t seem like he would manage to do it in near future. Lance had been his one true love, he still was, but they both were too young to realize it, especially the second one. They tried hard, but Keith couldn’t keep Lance with him when he didn’t want it. But being friends was exhausting to Keith, ignoring his ex started to be his weird routine, even if he didn’t plan it like that. Lance was perfect, he never got mad at Keith for not answering his texts, even if they both knew that it was hurting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ve got anyone?” Keith decided to ask right after they finally broke the hug. He didn’t want to let go, didn’t want to know about Lance’s love life, didn’t want to jump right into the present, didn’t want to listen, but he asked anyways. “You know, a partner or something?” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Or something,</span>
  </em>
  <span> how eloquent, Keith, congratulations.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, not now, but I had, wanna hear about it?” Lance grabbed Keith’s suitcase and led him to the exit. Keith nodded, pretending he wasn’t about to listen about people who were replacing him by Lance’s side. He just wanted to hear his voice again, the topic of this conversation didn’t really matter. “Okay, so there was this girl, Nyma, I met her during my freshman year. She was nice and pretty, but well, something didn’t click between us and we broke up, I think she’s dating someone, but I don’t contact her anymore, nevermind,” he chuckled and Keith frowned, it wasn’t something he should be laughing about. “And Allura, I’m sure you remember her. We were crushing on each other hard, Pidge laughed at us for a few months, but when we got together we realized we were better off as friends. We love each other, sure, but not romantically, it’s funny, a little bit. So, yeah, answering your question, I don’t have anyone currently, and you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” Keith felt obligated to talk a lot more, since he’d been ignoring Lance for quite a long time now, but he just didn’t have anything to say about his love life. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Especially</span>
  </em>
  <span> not to Lance. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, yeah, I’m still in love with my high school boyfriend (ex boyfriend?), nothing special.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They walked in silence and Keith really wanted to break it. It was painfully unusual to see Lance being quiet, because he never was when Keith still lived in Long Beach. He guessed things were different now, because they barely talked in person and he didn’t feel like asking Pidge about Lance. It would be weird and stupid, especially when Keith pretended he didn’t care, which was an obvious lie. Keith was constantly glancing at him when he knew that Lance wasn’t watching and he realized Lance didn’t like staying quiet like that. Keith guessed that he wasn’t comfortable enough, but maybe that was just a wrong assumption, because, come on, that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>Lance, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he was always talking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t believe you, Keith! It’s impossible nobody had fallen for you, you’re fucking</span>
  <em>
    <span> gorgeous,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” that was the Lance whom Keith remembered well from their high school days. He snickered, waiting for an answer, he knew exactly how to break Keith and make him unable to function properly. “Were you </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>focused on your major… majors? How many do you take? Back, were you focused on your studies to the point that you didn’t even pay attention to people around you?” He continued on talking while they finally exited the airport and stood by Lance’s car. Keith remembered it. An old chevrolet that used to belong to his parents, but Lance kept bragging about getting his driver’s license and turned out that he really </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>mean it. Keith started to realize how many things he’d missed and decided it was the best time to finally face all of his insecurities, even if it equaled moving on from his heartbreak.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s true,” he finally answered while getting to the car. “I didn’t have anyone in college, well, I still don’t. And I double major, art and psychology, just so you know,” he felt like he was bragging even if he knew it wasn’t true at all. He missed talking like that, but he never realized it, until now. He even stopped wishing to immediately be back at home, locked in his room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s nice, I’m taking marine biology, but I think I told you somewhere in my messages,” Lance’s shoulders visibly relaxed as soon as he started the car and drove away from the airport. Keith kept looking out the window, trying to recall every place he once was so close to. Nothing really changed, except for people, but he didn’t pay much attention to them, as they probably completely forgot him. He couldn’t lie, he didn’t remember all of his old classmates either, so they were fair enough together. “Hey, do you have any plans for today?” Lance spoke up, glancing at Keith. He didn’t expect this, not from him and not now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No? I wanted to just go home, but I don’t know—” Keith hesitated, not knowing what he should think about it. His plans were never specific, he was going to spend some time with Shiro and Adam, maybe have a quick meetup with Pidge and Hunk, but definitely </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>trying to answer Lance’s question. He didn’t expect to end up in Lance’s car, either, but yet here we are. It wasn’t as bad as it could be.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sweet!” Lance would most likely clap his hands if he didn’t have to have them both placed on the steering wheel. “Because I organized a meeting with Pidge, Hunk and Allura today and I thought, as, you know, I’m taking you, then I could as well bring you there. Pidge misses you, you know? I know you talk a lot, at least I think you do, she’s in the same college as me, so it’s not that hard to notice. Hunk asks about you sometimes, he once told me that he wished we could all go back in time to our high school days, I don’t know what he meant. But sometimes I wish that, too. It was easier, we didn’t have to worry like we do now, but at least we’re free, right? Being busy and worrying is a price we have to pay, but you know what? It’s nice, I don’t complain as much as I used to, you hated me for that, remember?” Lance unintentionally triggered some nostalgia, but it was good after all. “How does it all sound to you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine,” Keith said, even though his mind was screaming </span>
  <em>
    <span>no, don’t agree, stupid, you can’t agree on that one! </span>
  </em>
  <span>He was hoping he won’t randomly start crying. Of course, he wanted to spend time with them more than being home alone, but it was all happening too fast.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Keith, come on, it will— wait, did you just agree?” Lance never changed, no matter how hard Keith was denying it. He was still the same kid he left here, the same he loved – </span>
  <em>
    <span>loves</span>
  </em>
  <span> – and it didn’t help. Maybe if Lance changed it would be all easier, but no, of course not, this stupid – stupidly pretty and kind – boy had to stay exactly the same. It didn’t help Keith at all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess?” Keith really didn’t know what to think about it now. Maybe he started wishing to be in his room again, but he didn’t really have a choice anymore. “But shouldn’t you be— I mean, you normally go to Cuba during Christmas. Shouldn’t you be there this year, too?” That was definitely bothering him since the moment he’d seen Lance at the airport. He really was supposed to be out of town, that’s what Pidge told him. But it turned out she had something different in mind, though Keith couldn’t fully understand it. “You know— I’m not saying I don’t appreciate you coming here, I’m just— It’s just— I thought you wouldn’t be around. I mean, no, it’s not a bad thing, just surprising,” Keith got lost in trying to explain what he was thinking, realizing how bad it sounded, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t take his words back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lance didn’t seem offended as he stopped the car in front of traffic lights and loosely placed his right arm on his thigh, sighing quietly, something that sounded almost like contentment for… an odd thing, Keith couldn’t figure out that one yet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, yeah,” he said, smiling. “I wasn’t there last year as well, we kind of… changed our tradition, I guess? They’re coming to me, not everyone, just my parents and siblings, maybe abuelos, if they’re free and booked the flight soon enough. I have an apartment in town, it’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>super big,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but enough for my family to fit, at least that’s what we keep believing. I guess sleeping on the floor is not so bad after all. I took Allura last year and I think she liked it, but it was the time when we both began realizing we weren’ romantically attracted to each other. But it was nice, remember that one time when we went to Cuba, but everyone was out and forgot to tell us, it was hilarious. It’s still my family’s favorite story to tell, they miss you,” this Lance was even better than the Lance he’d left here when he went to study in Colorado. Letting go was literally impossible now, but Lance probably did, so Keith had nothing else to do than just to enjoy his days there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Keith laughed at the memory Lance had triggered. He couldn’t believe how well he remembered it after four years, but it was still hilarious. It took them four hours to get to Varadero from Havana, struggling to catch any type of transport. They paid </span>
  <em>
    <span>way </span>
  </em>
  <span>more than planned and it turned out that Lance’s parents forgot to tell him that they were going to their family in Atlanta. They could’ve been angry, of course, but when they came back home it became the story they planned on saying during every family meeting, it didn’t matter if it was Lance’s or Keith’s.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He thought about that often, not gonna lie. Almost every day, when he was in his dorm, trying to get through yet another art assignment he was supposed to do, pulling countless all–nighters just to deal with two majors. He could’ve focused on them, not on Lance, but as he quickly realized, he wasn’t capable of </span>
  <em>
    <span>that. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Half of his works, when he had to draw/paint/whatever people, had Lance somewhere. Sometimes it was just a background, blurred figure, sometimes the main focus of a portrait. His friends laughed at him at the beginning, but now they knew more than he thought he’d ever tell someone and fully understood his pain. Drawing Lance was relieving, not that he currently had a halfway finished sketchbook filled with his ex’s face buried deeply in his bag, </span>
  <em>
    <span>no, it didn’t happen at all.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Everyone misses you, you know that, right?” Lance apparently wasn’t finished yet, but they were five minutes away from the coffee shop he’d promised to come when he’s done. “You were only visiting for Christmas, sometimes your summer break, but we haven’t seen you in person in… what, two years, maybe? I’ve lost track, we all did. I don’t know if you’re holding some kind of grudge, you probably are, but that’s  not a reason to </span>
  <em>
    <span>ignore </span>
  </em>
  <span>us, you know? We don’t want to hurt you, me especially, I know I did, okay, but…” he stopped talking for a while, trying to find the best words, because the last thing he wanted was to offend Keith right before Christmas. “Okay, nevermind, we’re here, come on,” he parked the car and stormed outside almost immediately, waiting for Keith, who didn’t know what he should do at that exact moment. He was talking to Pidge only, so he didn’t have a clue how this meeting would go, but he assumed not so good. “Look, Keith, I’m sorry, okay? We didn’t sort out our things properly as we should’ve, but that was all in the past, right? We’re completely different people now, let’s go!” He grabbed Keith by his forearm, just like the old times, and guided him inside the coffee shop.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Keith froze in place as soon as he saw his old friends by the table. Pidge and Hunk must’ve been talking about something, but they quickly stopped when they saw who entered the place. Pidge looked almost pained when she glanced at Keith, mouthing quick apologizes, but he didn’t care about it then. Hunk’s expression showed that he was literally two seconds away from crying and running to Keith in order to hug him. Allura was just sitting there, smiling, but Keith still couldn’t get himself together to walk to them or do literally</span>
  <em>
    <span> anything.</span>
  </em>
  <span> It didn’t feel good at all, what more – his brain kept telling him that he no longer belonged here, these were his </span>
  <em>
    <span>former</span>
  </em>
  <span> friends, not current. Everything was his past and he should just forget about it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Keith! If you leave us like that once again, I don’t know what I’ll do to you!” Apparently, Hunk couldn’t stop himself and was now standing beside Keith and hugging him tightly. All of his insecurities faded immediately, because Hunk certainly showed him that they were still (almost) the same as when they were in high school. “We were </span>
  <em>
    <span>calling </span>
  </em>
  <span>you! I swear, man, if you don’t answer the next time—” Hunk kept yelling at him, but most of his words came out as muffled laughs, but Keith didn’t even mind that anymore. This was exactly the same Hunk Garrett he’d known from high school and it was currently the best thing that had happened to him that day.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s good to have you back, Keith,” Allura spoke up in her heavy British accent, smiling brightly. Soon enough they were all holding him tightly, only Lance stood at the side, but not for long. It took him a minute to fight the remaining awkwardness and just embrace Keith like the rest of his friends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Keith never realized how much he actually missed them. He began regretting not coming here more, because it could be all worth it after all. His previous relationship with Lance didn’t matter at that time, he was just happy to be with them again. And it would be even better if his phone hadn’t decided to ring at the ungodly loud volume.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry,” he mumbled, turning around and answering the phone. “Shiro? No, I’m with Pidge— Yeah, Lance picked me up. What? Oh— okay, yeah,” he hung up and shoved the phone back to his pocket, turning back to his friends with a weird expression on his face. They immediately started to worry, because Keith didn’t look like a person should do while reuniting with people they hadn’t seen for months.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is everything alright?” Pidge asked, but instead of answering her, Keith just plopped down in the chair and stared at the wall for a few seconds. This Christmas was meant to be the best and was until Shiro had called him and decided to mess everything up. It was his life and his choices only, but he could think about his brother sometimes, it would be nice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, it just looks like I could as well be booking a flight back right now,” he groaned, fighting back his tears, because that was definitely not how he wanted to reunite with his friends. They all looked at him weirdly, wondering what the hell did he mean. “Shiro had just phoned me, saying him and Adam would be going to spend Christmas with Adam’s family and it was done last minute and they forgot to tell me,” he almost choked out the last few words. He came here to see them and they probably will only pass by saying a quick “hey” and that would be all. Keith regretted not coming here more times </span>
  <em>
    <span>so much</span>
  </em>
  <span> right now and he would do everything to go back in time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fuck, man,” Hunk cursed, meaning that the situation was an absolute shit. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> used words like that if they weren’t absolutely necessary, so this must’ve been really awful. Then he just hugged Keith and so did everyone else. They stayed like that until Lance jumped up and started smiling like a fucking madman.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have an idea!” He shouted randomly, squeezing Keith tighter as he rubbed his face with his sleeve. He looked absolutely miserable and Lance couldn’t just leave him like that. They could’ve made a lot of mistakes during graduation, but now was the best time to fix them. Right before Christmas, maybe it would do its magic, somehow, and make everything perfect again. “You can come to me!” I know Hunk’s leaving for two days, Pidge is… she’s busy, you know that, right? Same with Allura and, well… my family is coming over to my apartment this year and they would be thrilled to see you again! It may sound weird for you, I’m aware, but it just sorta came to my mind, everything’s better than spending Christmas alone, I hope you know! So, what do you say, Keith?” Lance knew he was rambling and the point of his statement was probably lost somewhere in the middle, but he couldn’t take it back. He decided to wait and see what was going to happen, because what could go wrong? Nothing, Christmas was almost there!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck, Lance?” That was far away from what he had expected to hear. Keith should be running around right now, jumping and yelling and just being happy that somebody decided to adopt him for Christmas, not doing </span>
  <em>
    <span>that. </span>
  </em>
  <span>His behavior was stupid and Lance couldn’t find </span>
  <em>
    <span>any </span>
  </em>
  <span>reason for Keith to be acting like that. However, there were at least three valid reasons, but Lance didn’t think of them as the real ones.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t ‘what the fuck, Lance’ me! I’m giving you the only opportunity, man, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>want to be here alone, do you? Okay, God, come on,” he wrapped his fingers around Keith’s wrist and dragged him outside, mouthing to his friends that they had a few things to discuss. Lance didn’t really want to do it inside, as people were already looking at him, because he kept yelling all the way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sat on the bench, one huge window behind them, so their friends could watch the whole scene. They all, Pidge especially, were more than just aware of how much Keith was still hurting and they were scared that their conversation may not go as planned. Pidge told them all about how Keith felt, he let her do that, as he really didn’t want to talk to more people than absolutely necessary. They all felt genuinely bad for him, but it was Keith’s fault that they couldn’t reach him. He could’ve just talked to them and maybe even met up, without Lance (somehow) and everything would be far easier, but he did none of these.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He </span>
  <em>
    <span>tried</span>
  </em>
  <span> moving on and Pidge witnessed that, but he just </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>do that. Lance was too perfect, too good for him when they were together, too kind, too pretty, too fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>himself</span>
  </em>
  <span> to let go. He didn’t believe that Lance stopped loving him, but guess that was real now, especially after he told him that he’d been in a few relationships since their breakup.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Keith,” Lance finally broke the silence that was slowly beginning to get pretty damn impossible to handle. “I know— okay, I get that maybe I reacted in a way… it was too much, I know it, okay? And I’m really fucking sorry, Keith, I know you may not be ready to meet my family again, after… what happened. But Keith,” Lance’s hand subconsciously moved a little closer, his fingers brushing against Keith’s skin. “At least listen to me, okay? It would be really nice if you came to my house, my family would love to have you around again, I’m serious. I know it would be weird for you, but you have nothing to be worried about, seriously,” his grip slightly tightened around Keith’s forearm and he should’ve probably move it away, but he couldn’t do anything, so he just stayed and hoped his cheeks weren’t as flushed as it felt. “Just— Keith, please! I fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>saw </span>
  </em>
  <span>you after talking to Shiro, you legit </span>
  <em>
    <span>cried </span>
  </em>
  <span>in front of us! I see how hard it is for you, so let me help you. We can work it out now, three years too late, I know, but it’s never actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>too late, </span>
  </em>
  <span>right? Think about it, okay?” His hand was now holding Keith’s smaller one, Lance’s face was pretty pink right now, Keith couldn’t take his eyes off him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” he replied, smiling. He turned his head to the window, slightly nodding. He saw Pidge visibly relaxing and grinning back at him, now she knew it was all going alright again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lance was caught off guard that it only took his soft voice and a small smile to convince Keith, just like the old times. Lance wasn’t trying to manipulate him, he wanted all the best for Keith, even if they weren’t together anymore. His hand slowly went back on his own thigh, but brushed against Keith’s one for a second. It didn’t look like Lance was messing with him, but his brain decided to be insecure as hell yet again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go back in, you have a lot catching up to do!” Lance immediately dragged him back to the coffee shop and Keith couldn’t be happier than that time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Actually, he could, but it wasn’t really the point of this statement. He slowly started to feel like back then when he was in high school. Maybe Shiro and Adam’s sudden change of plans would do Keith some favors? He hoped for it to be true and he actually believed it, when Lance placed it </span>
  <em>
    <span>a little too close </span>
  </em>
  <span>to himself and started talking randomly, like that night on the beach.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Keith, being a sad twenty-one-year-old, smiled brightly, a faint blush on his cheeks. He felt more in love than when he was a teenager and the fact that Lance didn’t know about his (remaining) feelings wasn’t as bad as it seemed.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. the first day of christmas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>its here the second chapter!! lets get right into it then guys:</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith was almost sure that Christmas Magic was finally working on him. He’d managed to spend a few hours with Adam and Shiro, listening to them endlessly apologizing for changing their plans literally last minute. As much as Keith was upset at the beginning, now he was even kind of grateful that it turned out this way. Adam probably went <em> a little </em>overboard with all the apologizing, it went this far Keith was practically dying from laughter. He had to pull the last card possible – yelling at his brother and his brother’s boyfriend that he won’t be home alone this Christmas.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not even gonna be home, technically,” Keith chuckled, watching as Adam stressfully packed all the essentials into his bag. He was mouthing “I’m so sorry” all the time, it was pretty damn entertaining to listen to, especially after ten minutes or something. When he heard Keith say this one sentence, he audibly gasped and dropped a pair of shoes he was trying to stuff into Shiro’s suitcase.</p><p> </p><p>“What? Are you coming back to the dorms?” Adam couldn’t just see any other reason for Keith to say he wouldn’t be home. There was literally no place in the city where he could go. He only learnt that Keith met up with his old friends like twenty minutes before, he wasn’t ready for more revelations. “Listen, I know we said that a lot already, but we’re really sorry about—” he got brutally interrupted by Keith’s new wave of laughter. Adam would usually be more than pleased that Keith was smiling and just being happy again, but now he was just purely confused.</p><p> </p><p>“No! I didn’t come here to be flying back the next day, besides, the flights are all bought up, so I have no chance anyways,” Keith’s eyes were filled with something weird, a tiny bit of stress mixed with the <em> ultimate </em> joy Adam hadn’t seen in years now. “I’m gonna go to Lance and spend Christmas with him,” Keith answered as if he did that every damn year. His confidence boosted impossibly, <em> that fucking bastard </em> made him that way and Keith didn’t know if he should be grateful or not really.</p><p> </p><p>“Didn’t you guys…?” Shiro asked, not wanting to add “break up”, knowing how much it hurt Keith when he first heard it after graduation. He never said that himself, only that “it’s over” or “we’re not together”, it was never a breakup for Keith, he just couldn’t call it like that.</p><p> </p><p>“We did, of course. But we met up and he was actually the only one who was <em> somehow </em> free during Christmas. Not fully, because his family is visiting, but he convinced me that it would be nice to share this day with someone— turned out this someone will be Lance this year,” Keith’s eyes lit up when he talked about it and it was pretty different from what he looked like when he saw him at the airport. “It was weird, I didn’t really want to invade, but he kept saying that I can’t just be alone that day. No, Adam, I know what you have to say, but don’t! I know you’re both sorry and thank you, really, but you don’t have to. Changes happen, right?” <em> Changes happen, people stop loving each other </em> , Keith’s brain whispered, but he quickly decided to ignore it. It was no time for self doubts, definitely <em> not. </em></p><p> </p><p>“I hope it all goes okay,” Adam smiled, shoving his bag into Shiro’s hands right before they both left the house. Keith genuinely felt like everything was going alright and he couldn’t stop grinning like a stupid kid (he kind of was one, but that’s another story).</p><p> </p><p>And it was all perfect and peaceful until the twenty fifth of December came. Keith was brutally woken up at six <em> in the goddamn morning </em> by several phone calls from Lance. He knew that he always took Christmas more than seriously, but to wake up this early? It was too much, even for Keith. It was actually funny – Keith was an impossibly heavy sleeper, but he <em> always </em> managed to wake up when <em> Lance </em> was trying to do it, no matter if he was there in the same room or on the phone. Keith’s body got so used to Lance that it just <em> knew </em>whenever it was him waking Keith up. He hated it in high school, but now was rather glad that it happened. He wouldn’t have woken up til something like… ten maybe? Lance couldn’t be waiting that long.</p><p> </p><p>When Keith finally sat up and tried to come back to reality, he answered Lance’s fifth phone call and groaned when he heard this ungodly Christmas music playing in the background. Lance was really making this day <em> horrible, </em>but Keith couldn’t complain about it, since thanks to him he didn’t have to be alone, eating takeout and watching some stupid movies. Well, he would probably be watching them anyway, but it felt a lot better with Lance’s family.</p><p> </p><p><em> “We have stuff to prepare, well, not much, since I did a lot yesterday, I have a Christmas tree and decorations, you just need to help me put them </em> <b> <em>on</em> </b> <em> the tree and in the apartment a little bit… oh! And we’ll be making dinner, if that’s okay,” </em> Lance threw a literal waterfall of words at Keith, but – a nice thing – he didn’t comment on how much it took Keith to actually respond. It’s not like it was their first Christmas together after all. <em> “Oh, also! I’ll be at yours in ten minutes!” </em></p><p> </p><p>“You know I fucking can’t cook, right?” Keith laughed, grabbing his <em> very </em> oversized sweater and throwing it on. He was glad he slept in his sweatpants, so he didn’t have to bother about changing and <em> thinking </em> about what he should wear that day. He had his nice pants and a red button-up (and also a new t–shirt and every little thing people usually take to sleepovers) he planned on taking to Lance’s, because he knew that once he came to him in the morning, he wouldn’t leave until the next day had arrived. “Wait, Lance. <em> Ten minutes!? </em> What the fuck, you <em> know </em>I won’t get ready! Yeah, it doesn’t take much time, but I just woke up and it’s fucking six, what do you take me for?” Keith could be blaming Lance for even more time, if he hadn’t decided to blast yet another stupid song to shut Keith up.</p><p> </p><p><em> “I can braid your hair, okay? It will look cool, ‘cause I bet it’s a mess now! Also, I’m like… in the driveway in front of your block, so see you </em> <b> <em>pretty </em> </b> <em> soon, I guess?” </em>He laughed, knowing he acted like a stupid lovestruck teenager he most definitely wasn’t, but he really couldn’t care less.</p><p> </p><p>It took Lance another minute to get on the fourth floor and twenty more seconds before Keith decided to let him in. For a moment Lance thought that Keith thought it through again and didn’t want to go anywhere with him. Lance was genuinely worried that he was too much, but, to be honest, he had always been exactly like this and Keith <em> never </em> complained about it. Lance’s insecurities got bigger and bigger only to fade a second after, when Keith opened the door. Lance had to force himself only to smile and not to burst out laughing. Keith had a big, <em> fucking huge </em> sweater thrown on his torso, and he looked like some type of a god or a statue, it was funny. He had one sock on, another one lying somewhere on the floor (but this one didn’t match colors with the first one, so Lance didn’t know if they were supposed to go together). Keith looked like an absolute <em> mess. </em>His hair was in a really bad condition, he had a hairbrush in his hand and he desperately tried to brush everything somehow neatly. He also had a toothbrush in his mouth and he could pass as a multitasking person, but only if he didn’t look like he was literally two seconds away from falling asleep.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” Lance was still a little embarrassed around his friend, as if their past relationship was making it impossible to move forward. “Will you let me in or are we gonna stand here like idiots? We have <em> a lot </em>of work to do!” He gently pushed Keith to the side to create himself enough room in the doorframe to enter the apartment. It was just the same as what Lance remembered it to be like when they were in high school. Maybe a few more new pictures of Shiro and Adam were added on the walls, but everything was exactly like the old times.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s a little—” Keith was interrupted mid-sentence by an impossible cute, little yawn. “—messy here, but you kinda surprised me. I <em> tried </em>to be relatively ready, but— it didn’t work, I guess?” He nervously scratched the back of his neck after placing the hairbrush on the shelf and running to the bathroom in order to wash his face and put the toothbrush back. Keith didn’t know what he should behave like to make Lance feel as comfortable as possible, so he just smiled and guided him to the living room.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, do you still have hair ties here?” Lance pointed at the drawer in the closet. Keith was more than surprised to hear him say that, it was literally impossible that he still remembered it after a little more than three years. <em> Keith </em> himself kept forgetting where Adam and Shiro were placing their things and yet still Lance somehow managed to memorize it <em> all. </em> He never said he remembered all the things, but come on, <em> fucking hair ties, </em> what kind of person does that? Keith only nodded, sitting on the couch and tightening his fingers on the hairbrush. He was <em> not </em>ready to have Lance touch his hair, but it was better than trying to style it himself. Shiro wasn’t here to do it for his brother, so Lance was the only actual option left.</p><p> </p><p>“We have to do it quickly, okay?” Lance sat behind him and started to brush his hair gently, or, at least, he <em> tried </em>to do it gently, but it was almost impossible with a mess like that. “It may hurt a little, I’m sorry. You should sleep with your hair in a loose braid, Keith, it won’t tangle like crazy then,” he quickly pulled the toothbrush away when he heard Keith quietly yelp in pain. “I’m sorry!” His hand traced Keith’s neck, trying to soothe him as well as possible. Keith slightly leaned to Lance’s touch, but not too much as he really didn’t want to ruin all the work he’d done. “We’re almost there, I’m really sorry it hurts, but your hair’s a true mess!”</p><p> </p><p>Keith sat patiently during the remaining process, smiling widely as it all triggered many, really <em> many </em>old memories Keith had sworn to himself he will never forget. Lance was acting in an impossibly sweet way and Keith wanted to believe it was something more again, like in high school, but he knew deeply in his heart that it wasn’t. Still, dreaming was allowed, especially during Christmas, so he didn’t even feel ashamed of himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Where’s your bag?” Lance asked, seeing Keith’s clothes folded neatly on the table. Keith pointed at his room and Lance immediately ran there and came back after two minutes of cursing in Spanish and yelling at Keith for not putting it somewhere <em> visible. </em> Who the hell would think that sticking their bad between the bed and a closet, <em> and </em>also under a shit ton of other things. It took Lance some time to rip it from there, but he wasn’t even mad at Keith.</p><p> </p><p>When he came back, he just fucking couldn’t believe in what he saw. Keith was casually asleep, arms crossed on his chest and he quietly snored. Lance didn’t want to wake him up and he genuinely started feeling bad for coming here so early. But at the same time, he knew they had to be going right now if they wanted to have everything prepared before Lance’s family would arrive. They had this weird habit of coming in <em> way </em> too early and Lance secretly hoped that it wouldn’t happen today. He slowly started realizing that him and Keith had way too many things to do, even if he started preparing before.</p><p> </p><p>“Keith? Hey, Keith!” Lance started gently stroking his hair, then shaking his shoulder. Come on, Keith really <em> was </em> a heavy sleeper, but he fell asleep no longer than ten minutes before, he couldn’t be unable to be woken up, Lance was sure about that. “Keith, you can sleep in my car and in my house, but <em> please, </em> we really have to go!” He pulled Keith’s arm slightly harder and that <em> definitely </em>woke him up. He jumped on the couch, fear filling his eyes and his fingers subconsciously running through the braid to measure how much damage he’s managed to do while shifting in his sleep.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s all good, but come on, we have <em> no </em> time!” Lance threw Keith’s bag on his right shoulder and grabbed his hand to guide him to the car. It was an actual <em> fucking quest </em>with Keith still being half asleep. But they eventually made it and soon enough they were both inside, Keith on the shotgun seat with his head pressed to the window.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t get me wrong,” he started, feeling a little better and actually <em> woken up. </em>“I am fucking excited to come to you, I just— I’m still a little tired, okay? It’s gonna be wild with me there, you know that, right?” Keith wanted to make sure that Lance knew what kind of a mess he will be having at home in a few minutes.</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, don’t worry about it. I have siblings, <em> younger </em>ones as well, you’re not as much of a mess as they are, so it’s gonna be fine!”</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p><b>It was by no means </b> <b> <em>fine. </em> </b> Lance thought that Keith learnt a little bit when he was out studying, but it turned out to be completely opposite. First, they started with decorating a Christmas tree and Keith almost got trapped in the chain after it took him fifteen minutes to untie all of them. It was hilarious and as much as Lance wanted to help him, he was choking and laughing all the time. Then, Keith broke two baubles before they managed to actually hang them on the tree, so it equaled a few minutes lost on cleaning up the mess. Still, Keith couldn’t help but think that it was going to be the best Christmas in his life. It was like these times when they were both still in high school. They were stupid, but somehow, three years later they managed to reunite and do stuff like <em> this. </em>After these little accidents, they made it through decorating relatively easily.</p><p> </p><p>They went to decorate the whole house and set the table, but Keith was <em> terrible </em> at it, Lance didn’t know how he managed to live by himself all these years. Lance had plans on placing a lot of colorful stuff and decorations, also lights in the middle, but Keith looked him dead in the eyes and said that <em> we don’t need this shit here, Lance, it’s cluttering up the place! </em> or something. Well, maybe Lance’s plans were a little too much, but he couldn’t have this table blank, only with plates, it was literally unacceptable. They argued about it for a little bit, but finally came up with a compromise – Lance promised not to use the lights and Keith said not to mention that the bright red, white and green napkins were <em> awful </em>(they really were, though).</p><p> </p><p>These were only preparations that didn’t require any special skills, but the whole new story started when Lance announced they were going to make food. Lance gave up on preparing turkey all by himself (with the <em> help </em>of Keith, of course), as he knew his mother would most likely bring her own one. As hilarious as it sounded, it was definitely true. They agreed on preparing vegetables, gingerbread cookies and eggnog, though Lance started doubting it after a few first minutes.</p><p> </p><p>Actually, roasting vegetables went rather okay, since Lance was doing all the job and made Keith sit on the couch and watch him. It had to be done after witnessing him trying to cut the carrots for ten whole minutes with <em> no </em> visible success. Lance wanted to go through the process easily and as quickly as he could, so making Keith stand out seemed like a better idea. He wasn’t even offended by it, what more – he said it himself that he was <em> terrible </em>at cooking, so it wasn’t anything surprising that Lance ended up doing it by himself.</p><p> </p><p>Still, he made Keith warm up milk for eggnog, which resulted in him almost blowing it up, somehow. Lance wondered how the hell he was capable of that. He, on the other hand, started whipping the eggs and sugar, at the same time looking at milk in the small pot, as Keith insisted that something was <em> wrong </em>with it. Yeah, maybe it was, because it was supposed to be boiling already and it wasn’t, but it also wasn’t really a bad thing, Keith was just freaking out. He tried to season the milk as well and it was the only thing he could actually do, but he laughed when a little bit of cinnamon got into his nose and he sneezed a cloud of cinnamon–colored powder. Seeing Keith laugh like that was like a Christmas mystery to Lance. He hadn’t seen him for so long, but he remembered every single feature of his face and every wrinkle that formed when his smile was growing wider. The whole preparation process was just them messing around and finally adding alcohol to the finished product and placing it in the fridge, silently praying for Keith not to break any of the glasses. </p><p> </p><p>“Keith, no!” Lance yelled when they were preparing the cookies. They were more than halfway through the process, but Keith was worse at cooking than what Lance remembered him to be. He felt like he was babysitting a kid, but in fact, it was a grown, twenty years old man. “Keith, you’re <em> not </em>supposed to eat cookie dough, only kids don’t know that! I thought we already had that talk, right?” He asked, remembering their Christmas back in high school. Those were some good years and as much Lance wanted to forget them sometimes, he just couldn’t.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s stupid,” Keith grabbed some more and ran around the island so Lance couldn’t take his food away from him. “It doesn’t do any damage, you used soy milk, didn’t you? It tastes nice, so why not?” Keith really looked like a kid who didn’t know what he was doing wrong. Actually, he <em> wasn’t </em>doing anything wrong.</p><p> </p><p>“But you <em> can’t </em> just eat it raw! Come on, Keith, what’s better – this fucking raw dough-thingy or the usual, baked <em> cookies?” </em> Lance asked, trying to stop laughing, but he couldn’t really do it. He misses it, <em> he missed it so much. </em> It occurred to him and he was almost knocked out by it. He missed Keith, his laugh, his eyes, he saw him in Allura, in Nyma, in everyone. He <em> wanted </em> to have Keith back and now when he finally had it, he felt like everything was back into the right place. It just <em> felt right, </em>like nothing bad had ever happened.</p><p> </p><p>They were done with the cookies at around two in the afternoon and Lance seriously felt like they were preparing much more than they in fact did. Maybe it was because he had to do almost everything by himself, but it wasn’t really that bad. He would rather have it done alone than to have it all burnt because Keith <em> insisted </em> that he could actually do it. Keith <em> thought </em> that he was capable of cooking, but the truth was far, <em> really far </em> away from it.</p><p> </p><p>“We should get dressed, right?” Lance jumped on the couch and stood up immediately, grabbing Keith’s wrist and dragged him to the spare room where they left his bag earlier. “Huh, this looks kinda nice, I would say. You had a similar button-up on our junior prom, I think? I have photos somewhere, I’m not sure, but even if I don’t, my mom for sure has them in some album at home, she stored all of our photos there. It was stupid, but—” he stopped right when Keith was done putting on his shirt and sitting on the bad for a while to adjust to a tighter clothing around his body that his previous, oversized sweater. “Fuck, I’m rambling, sorry!” Lance shut up, dressing up himself. He knew he started talking too much and he didn’t know how he should feel about his new discovery.</p><p> </p><p>“You wanted to tell me something, didn’t you?” Keith said, standing in front of the mirror and trying to adjust his braid as good as he actually could. It got slightly messed up, but nothing major, so he just decided to leave it that way. “Go on, it’s not like it’s our first time exchanging secrets.”</p><p> </p><p>“You think it’s a good idea? Okay, um… I sometimes go to my parents’ house and we just— we just look at our old photos and my high school album is only me and you, Pidge, Hunk and Allura as well, but mostly you and me. I realized how lonely it had been here without you, especially when you just <em> stopped </em> contacting anyone. We knew you were still texting Pidge, but it would have been <em> super selfish </em> of us to force you to talk to the others. But we— <em> I </em> wanted you back, okay? It’s stupid, probably. And I am <em> not </em>saying this to make you feel guilty, just being here showed me how empty it was without you,” Lance finished, sighing loudly.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m— sorry, I guess? I know it was my fault, but I wasn’t quite ready to come back. I’m still not, but I think I’m slowly getting there,” Keith smiled, not knowing what else he should do to make Lance feel better. Apparently, it did, because he smiled as well and guided Keith to the living room. They plopped down on the couch, silent, but they somehow felt these weird vibrations in the air, which made them feel things they knew they shouldn’t be feeling, especially not at that time. Then they heard loud knocking upon the door, making Keith jump slightly. “Fuck, Lance! They weren’t supposed to come like… right now!” He whined, slowly starting to freak out.</p><p> </p><p>“Keith,” Lance’s hand made its way to flatten on Keith’s thigh in an insanely supportive way. “It’s not your first time meeting them, so chill out. They remember you and <em> still </em> love you, so really, there’s absolutely no need to worry. It will be <em> perfect, </em>got it? I’m gonna go open the door now, you wait here,” he ordered, standing up and literally running to the front door. He missed his family even though they were visiting each other. But it was completely different to meet them once or twice a month when you lived with them your entire life. Lance wanted to go back in time to high school, when everything was far less fucked up than now, but he couldn’t really change anything. It wasn’t as bad as he thought now, so he decided to go with that.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey!” He yelled, almost throwing himself on all of his family’s members and soon enough they were all hugging tightly in the hallway. Keith was staring at them and it was exactly the time when he realized how much he missed not coming here more often. “Guys, I—” Lance and everyone else were choking on their tears, not realizing that Keith was actually here. He didn’t mind being invisible like that, by it was <em> Lance’s </em>family, he was going to be seen sooner or later. “I have a little surprise for you!” He guided them all to the living room, where they found Keith sitting on the couch, looking only slightly confused.</p><p> </p><p>“Keith!” Lance’s twelve years old sister, Cassidy ran up to him as soon as he stood up and embraced him tightly. Oh, how he <em> missed </em> these people. Fifteen years old Sophie was the second one to hug Keith and soon enough he was a part of the usual Serrano family welcoming embrace. It felt exactly like in high school, except that he was twenty one now and Lance’s younger siblings looked <em> completely </em>different. Of course, these were still the same people, but three years older. It wasn’t much, still kind of much if it came to teenagers.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright guys, we should get everything pre—” Lance’s mom started, but was quickly interrupted by her almost middle kid.</p><p> </p><p>“Mamá, we got it done before,” Lance quickly said, taking everything out of the fridge and the oven.</p><p> </p><p>The remaining preparation went fast and Keith soon lost all of the anxious feelings he got about meeting Lance’s family. They welcomed him the same as three years ago, so he had nothing to worry about. Lance’s mother even said that Keith’s braid looked absolutely stunning, which led to Lance yelling from the kitchen that it was all his job and he was willing to take full credit for it. Keith yelled something back, but couldn’t really deny it. Veronica said that he actually did a pretty decent job, also added that her and Rachel should be the ones to take the credit, since they both taught Lance braiding. They all ended up laughing and messing around the kitchen like the old times, Keith even started wondering if Lance’s neighbors didn’t have anything against it.</p><p> </p><p>The dinner was awesome, Keith yet again couldn’t understand why he was so stressed and anxious about coming back. Lance’s offer was the best that could have ever happened to him. He was talking to Lance and his whole family like he was seeing them every weekend, not the first time in three years. Keith was smiling the whole time, a little less when they were about to go to sleep. He wanted to spend the whole night talking, but it hit him when they were all leaving how tired he really was. The kids realized what was happening and they made everyone stay a couple minutes more, but soon enough everyone was in their rooms, or, on the floor, anywhere they could possibly be sleeping.</p><p> </p><p>Keith felt truly happy for the first time in years and he didn’t believe that Christmas had already started ending.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thank you for reading, i hope your christmas is good!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. the second day of christmas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Keith sat on the bed, knowing that he should have been asleep for hours now, but he couldn’t get himself together to lie down and even try to shut his eyes. He was made to stay in the spare room with Lance, since his own bedroom was occupied by his younger siblings. Keith couldn’t even think about lying in the same bed with Lance, that was why he kept sitting on the very edge of it, trying his best to be as quiet as he could, because the last thing he wanted was to wake him up. Lance had a hard day, undoubtedly tiring, but Keith knew he was happy. Still, he didn’t reach his own tiredness boundary to the point when he would literally pass out anywhere and not even care who was by his side. Now, his brain was still painfully awake even if his body was starting to give up. The warm feeling was spilling over his insides and he loved it, even though his whole frame was tense as hell.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His eyes locked at the little fairy lights near Lance’s window. They looked almost exactly like the ones he had in his room back in his family house. It triggered some good memories, yet still right now Keith wanted nothing but to finally shut his brain up. His body sank into the warm Christmas sweater Shiro made him buy a year ago and it could be pretty nice if he wasn’t just trying to hold it all together. Keith didn’t like it, it was weird – he was still happy, but something about Lance was making it unable to stop thinking. Keith shifted slightly, but not too much, he didn’t actually stand up, knowing it may really wake Lance up and Keith wanted to avoid it. It didn’t look like he was going to fall asleep anytime soon and his phone had just ran out of battery, so there was no way he could just watch some stupid videos or scroll through social media until he tired himself out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He smiled a little, noticing how these little lights were slowly changing colors, sometimes stopping at red and blue – their former high school colors. They even lost a bet with Pidge and had to dress only in them – Keith in red, Lance in blue – to show the whole school </span>
  <em>
    <span>how in love </span>
  </em>
  <span>they were. Keith had to buy a bunch of red pants and also had to talk to Shiro for about an hour. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You don’t need them, Keith, </span>
  </em>
  <span>was what his brother would say all the time, but it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>a bet, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Keith couldn’t just simply say no. If Pidge said to wear these clothes for two weeks after losing, he had to do it, there was no other way. Right now he was recalling it with a smile, feeling his muscles slowly relaxing as his brain stopped thinking about everything </span>
  <em>
    <span>so much.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Keith felt a sudden urge to go out and just play in the snow like he did when he was a kid and played with Shiro, and then as a teenager with his friends. It would be a good plan, if it wasn’t almost three in the morning and if everyone wasn’t sound asleep. He sighed softly, grabbing a pillow that was previously resting on his thighs. Keith pulled it close to his chest, wanting a warm, nice feeling to surround him even more. The room was cosy as a spare room would get. Lance cared about every, even the smallest, corner of his apartment, Keith admired this more than he would ever admit. This room was arranged perfectly and Keith would have sworn that people could literally fight for being Lance’s guests only to have an opportunity to live in this room for a couple of days. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He </span>
  </em>
  <span>would do it all and as soon as he realized it, he quietly snorted, amazed by how a simple thought could amuse him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His brain seemed to stop working for a while and that was the time when Keith moved slightly closer to Lance, but then realized what he was doing rather quickly. It caused </span>
  <em>
    <span>a little bit </span>
  </em>
  <span>of damage, if he could call it like that. His bare feet brushed against each other when he moved to his side of the bed again, trying not to make the situation awkward for himself, since it wasn’t like that for Lance – after all, he was still sleeping. But Keith forgot about one thing – his reflexes were fucking wild when he was slowly getting tired, so instead of moving away like a completely usual human being, he almost tossed his whole body back, hitting his elbow on the wall, his left foot ended up on the floor with a loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>thump. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He cursed under his breath when he felt Lance shift and soon enough he was lying on his side, supported by one hand, a confused look on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Keith?” Lance asked, then coughed quietly, trying to clear his throat so his voice wasn’t harsh and weird anymore. “What’s up? Why aren’t you asleep?” He sounded really concerned, he may have known Keith and his behavior now was highly unlike him. He could have been sleeping for hours now and not sitting here like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Couldn’t sleep, I guess,” he answered simply, yawning. Sleep was slowly taking over him, but still not to the point when he was lying down and trying to really </span>
  <em>
    <span>fall </span>
  </em>
  <span>asleep. They locked eyes for a moment as soon as Lance shifted so he was now sitting criss crossed on his side of a mattress. Keith wanted to look back, but he really couldn’t do that. Lance’s eyes were hypnotizingly blue, beautifully reflecting in the color changing lights.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can relax, I’m not gonna bite you, I thought I already proved it to you earlier today,” Lance said, smirking. He let out a quiet, cute chuckle and Keith couldn’t do anything anymore. He was frozen in place, trying his best not to lose it. Lance was absolutely right, Keith suddenly remembered the way Lance’s hand rested on his thigh, the way his brain stopped functioning for a while. It was definitely weird, as Lance was his </span>
  <em>
    <span>ex, </span>
  </em>
  <span>they weren’t supposed to act like that. Still, they did and there was actually nothing to stop them. Lance’s family was asleep, nobody could hear them. They were only ones up, behind the closed door, but Keith wasn’t really willing to take that opportunity in any way. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>didn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> want to go back home, since he would be completely alone there. Still, sitting here with Lance only a few inches away wasn’t any of Keith’s secret dreams. He wished he could fall asleep usually, not do all of these weird things resulting in waking Lance up. If he didn’t do that, they wouldn’t have to deal with the awkwardness right now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know,” Lance started, looking at the window. The snow was sparkling outside, as the light from the lanterns was falling right at it, making it appear absolutely magical. He saw a few lights in the next block and silhouettes of people going around their apartments. It was what Christmas used to be a few years before, he secretly wanted to go back in time only to experience it once again. Maybe it was too much, but he only wanted </span>
  <em>
    <span>one more time </span>
  </em>
  <span>to make it be exactly like it was before, even if he was aware that it was absolutely impossible. “I was stupid,” Lance added, smiling. Keith couldn’t understand what was so funny about it. Usually, when people were talking like that, they were either apologizing or just blaming themselves for something, not fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>laughing </span>
  </em>
  <span>like that. It made literally no sense, but Keith decided not to judge it and just go with it, since he really had nothing better to do.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You think so?” He asked, playing with his fingers, as he thought he may grab Lance’s hand by accident. His weird high school habits still weren’t gone, no matter how hard he tried to avoid them. With Lance, it was all coming back and Keith had no idea whether it was a good thing or not.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Lance sounded like he was almost daydreaming, not so unlike him right now. He definitely didn’t change a lot, even if Keith would rather want it to happen. Maybe letting go would be easier then, because right now, Keith was farther that just </span>
  <em>
    <span>far away </span>
  </em>
  <span>from the thought of leaving this love behind. He was in too deep to get out of it and, to be honest, he didn’t really </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to. “I left you and that was the biggest mistake I have ever made,” Keith gasped at that, not knowing what to think about it. Lance </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> just say that, especially not during the last day of Christmas. It wasn’t time for joking and Keith just </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>something wasn’t right, it couldn’t be true.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They looked at each other for quite some time and Keith was losing it even more. He knew he got lost in Lance’s eyes when he first met him, but now, </span>
  <em>
    <span>now </span>
  </em>
  <span>it was getting even worse, somehow. Lance’s eyes were vibrating and perfectly blue, the lights were making them more visible and sparkling, causing Keith to practically gasp whenever he looked into them. He had a hard time reminding himself that it was real, because he could’ve as well been dreaming. It did, in fact, felt like a dream, a pretty good one, actually. It looked a little like their sleepovers a few years ago, but the atmosphere was a lot more private and… different. They were adults now, but still lost in their feelings and truly acting like teenagers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I lost you, didn’t I?” Lance asked again, now it was barely a whisper. The soft smell of oranges was surrounding the room, Keith genuinely started thinking that it was Lance’s natural scent. It wouldn’t be surprising, since his whole family had this weird, Pacific appearance. Their house always smelt like the ocean, but they probably didn’t realize it. Keith had absolutely adored it all back then and he slowly started realizing that he was still doing exactly the same. “Keith,” Lance reminded him that he was waiting for an answer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” it was nothing more but the truth. Keith had absolutely no idea what was going on and </span>
  <em>
    <span>neither </span>
  </em>
  <span>what he could say as an answer. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>didn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>want to think about it, but Lance was making it hard not to. “Maybe you should go and find out,” Keith said that after a weird shiver, he couldn’t guess what was that, but he started regretting it as soon as the words had escaped his mouth. He sighed, looking away. The only thing he could be praying for at that time was for Lance not to notice or hear it all. He could pretend he said something else or that it was just the wind blowing, but he knew it wasn’t really possible here.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lance’s hands made a move as if they wanted to rest somewhere on Keith’s legs, but soon they just went back to Lance’s sides, and that was definitely weird. His lips curled up to form a cute, undoubtedly perfect little smile. His whole frame looked soft, almost vulnerable, but it was the one Keith had fallen in love with. The same perfectly wavy locks, perfect, tanned skin, especially his </span>
  <em>
    <span>face, </span>
  </em>
  <span>his whole body, arms Keith remembered that embraced him </span>
  <em>
    <span>so well. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Lance’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything </span>
  </em>
  <span>was perfect, there was absolutely no denying it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You want me,” he hummed, seeing Keith’s face going ghostly pale as soon as he said that. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Who would even say something like that to their </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>ex</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>, during </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>Christmas</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Apparently, Lance was capable of anything, as long as he really wanted to do it. “To find out,” he added, finally making a move. His hand traced the muscles on Keith’s bare thigh, then started drawing small circles on them. It felt like some weird kind of vibrations, but Keith definitely liked it. He leaned a little closer, even though he still had some objections at the bottom of his brain. He knew he probably shouldn’t do it, but he stopped thinking for a while and it was enough to let it all happen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Keith was more than just scared and anxious about how it was going to be, but soon he realized he had nothing to worry about. He moved his hands to rest on Lance’s chest, tracing every little pattern on his own sweater. The lights made the whole situation appear even more intimate than it felt. Lance grabbed one of Keith’s hands and intertwined their fingers, causing him to stop breathing for a few seconds. It shouldn’t be like that, </span>
  <em>
    <span>it shouldn’t feel right, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Keith was trying to remind himself that they really </span>
  <em>
    <span>shouldn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>be doing that. Still, both him and Lance </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted to, </span>
  </em>
  <span>so who was he to stop it? He smiled when Lance’s face happened to appear only two inches away of Keith’s one.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m so stupid,” Lance mumbled, but didn’t actually mean it, well, not for the current situation. He wasn’t stupid for thinking that he could be with Keith again, he wasn't stupid for acting affectionate towards him, but he </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>was stupid for letting him go in the first place. Still, it didn’t matter at the moment, they were just enjoying this. “Keith, I missed you so much,” and with these words, Lance’s lips met with Keith’s.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sweet taste spilled all over Keith’s body, making him feel like he was dreaming alive. Lance was gentle, a lot more than in high school, but it was nice. He held Keith close, one hand on his back, the second resting on his thigh exactly like before, squeezing it sometimes. Lance’s lips were soft, perfect for kissing, just as how Keith remembered them to be. This feeling was known, but at the same time so different Keith didn’t know what to do. He was practically melting under Lance’s touch, realizing how much he missed it all. Lance's lips were curling up endlessly, causing Keith to slightly grin, but they couldn’t break the kiss. They wasted too much time because of their stupid teenage minds to care about anything different from each other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You sure found out,” Keith breathed out, his hands now on Lance’s neck, pulling him closer into a definitely more passionate kiss. He couldn’t believe they were both so stupid in high school, they could have had it all, instead of waiting three years. It happened to be worth it, of course, but it could have happened a lot sooner. “I’m not complaining,” he added quickly, when Lance’s hands gently squeezed his hips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They lasted like that for a few more seconds, then finally broke the kiss, realizing that they could barely breathe anymore. Lance pulled Keith a little closer to his chest, falling back on the mattress. They started giggling like crazy, realizing that they had been dancing around each other for the whole two previous days.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad,” Lance said, in between a few little laughs. He still had to be adjusting his breathing, but it was slowly coming back to the way it used to be. “That you gave me another chance. Thank you,” he whispered, placing his hand on Keith’s waist, trying to tell him that he didn’t make a mistake. Keith didn’t say anything, instead, he just laid his head on Lance’s chest, listening to his steadying heartbeat, the noise Keith had absolutely admired in high school and did even more right now. He quietly hummed in response, happy that the whole situation turned out exactly like this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Christmas Magic sure did its job, Keith could finally say that he started to believe in it.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thanks for reading!! i hope you all like the story!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>